Star Wars: Galaxies offers trial run

After raising a ruckus among its established Star Wars Galaxies user base with a massive update to the gameworld, Sony Online Entertainment and LucasArts are looking to train new Padawan in the ways of the Jedi, or any of the other eight in-game professions.

Gamers curious about the sci-fi massively multiplayer online role-playing game can now download a 10-day trial of the game that includes the first 10 levels of the soon-to-be-released Star Wars Galaxies: Starter Kit. With a budget price of $19.99, the starter kit contains the original game and the Warp to Lightspeed expansion pack, offering enough content to get would-be wookies through the game's redesigned first 30 experience levels. For those unsure about picking up the starter kit, the trial version is now available for download from GameSpot.

While the changes LucasArts and Sony Online are making to the game are in the name of more accessible gameplay for new players, many of Galaxies' veterans are unhappy with the revamp. To help soothe the savage masses of recently hacked-off Jedi (who are no doubt contemplating Sithhood right about now), the companies have begun offering refunds to anyone who purchased the game's Trials of Obi-Wan expansion pack. The Trials of Obi-Wan was released the day before LucasArts and Sony Online announced their overhaul of the gameworld. While all word of the refund has disappeared from the main Star Wars Galaxy Web site, it's still being announced in the game's official forums.